UCLA Jewish Studies Faculty Statement on Immigration Ban

As Jewish Studies faculty at UCLA, we condemn the recent Executive Order by President Trump to deny access to immigrants and refugees from seven, predominantly Muslim countries. As scholars of the Jewish past, we know all too well what the consequences have been when Jews have been denied entry to countries merely on the basis of their religious or ethnic identity. We also remember well that the United States, in a number of dark points in its twentieth-century history, denied entry to Jews fleeing oppression. In light of that past, we are especially mindful of the dangers when our country, founded on the principles of liberty and justice for all, engages in discriminatory practices against select groups, whether based on religion, nationality, ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, or anything else. We call on the President of the United States to rescind this Executive Order immediately and to cease any discriminatory practices and inflammatory rhetoric directed against Muslim citizens, residents, and visitors to the United States.

Signed:

Carol Bakhos, Professor of Ancient Judaism and Jewish Studies, UCLA

Aomar Boum, Associate Professor of Anthropology, UCLA

Lia Brozgal, Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies, UCLA

Jessica Goldberg, Associate Professor of History, UCLA

David G. Hirsch, Librarian for Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies, Charles E. Young Research LIbrary, UCLA